What is DBT?

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a cognitive behavioral treatment used to help individuals with a variety of illnesses. It was originally developed for treatment of borderline personality disorder but has since been shown to be helpful for those who are chronically suicidal, those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), those with substance abuse or eating disorders, and those with depression. Overall, the purpose of DBT is to provide the client with the skills to better manage negative emotions.
There are group sessions for DBT which include individual sessions with the therapist, as well as entirely one-on-one sessions. During an individual session, therapist and client work together to develop goals that are meaningful to the client. The idea is to steer the client’s perception, help them build a life they consider worth living, and keep them motivated.

There is a period of skills training which includes 4 modules:

1. Mindfulness - This practice has become more popular recently as a way to help an individual be present in the moment
2. Distress Tolerance - These skills help a person grow to accept and become more comfortable with a situation which may be difficult to change
3. Emotion Regulation - This step involves learning strategies which enable you to feel emotions without becoming overwhelmed and controlled by them
4. Interpersonal Effectiveness - The goal here is to create more balance among your priorities and strengthen relationships

Often, people automatically develop poor coping behaviors in order to deal with intense negative emotions. DBT works to alter these behaviors. Gaining an understanding of what is driving behaviors, and realizing that they are normal, aids in creating a feeling of acceptance. This allows people to feel that they can trust their own judgment with future behaviors and then change them.

DBT has been proven to be an effective therapeutic method and it’s one which I have been using in my own practice for the majority of my career. For further details on what DBT entails and its efficacy, consider the articles provided below. Please call me at (810) 216-5610 if you would like the tools necessary to move forward.

“If you can develop a life that’s worth living, you’ll keep living and you’ll stay out of hell”
                                 - Creator of DBT: Dr. Marsha Linehan

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapy-types/dialectical-behavior-therapy
https://behavioraltech.org/resources/faqs/dialectical-behavior-therapy-dbt/
https://www.greenhousetreatment.com/therapy/dialectical-behavior-therapy/

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Author - Scott Turner

Dedicated Therapist for Over 12 Years